Second
Sunday of Lent
March
1, 2015
Mark 9:2-10
“It
is good to be here!” Those are words that naturally come from the mouth of
Peter. Indeed, it was an ecstasy to behold the Lord in His splendor. It was
pleasant to encounter two great figures of Israel, Elijah and Moses. It was heavenly
to hear the voice of the Father. It was a glimpse of heaven and Peter believed
that it was really the paradise. It was the experience of being at the pick of
the mountain, the moment of glory.
The
experience of Peter is not foreign to us. When we achieve success in our works,
when we win sport competitions, or when we earn our degree with flying color, these
are the crown moments of our lives. For we who are working in the Church, we
feel we see the Lord when our ministries are successful, when we gather enough
money to fund our big project for the poor, or when people appreciate our help
for them. Just this Saturday, our seminary organized a medical mission in
Guagau, Pampanga, around two hours from Manila. We brought with us more than
100 volunteers, gathered a lot of medicine and we were able to help almost one
thousand poor patients. It was a huge achievement and surely gave us tremendous
feeling.
We
climb the mountains of our lives, the mountain of family, of career, and of
service. Ask any mountaineering experts, they will tell us that climbing mounts
are tough and sometimes even deadly. Yet, after all these difficult and
dangerous trails, arriving at the top is enormous experience. At the tops of
our lives, like Peter, we shout also, “It is good to be here!” and like the
three disciples, we want that the moments to be lasting. Thus, Peter promptly
continued, “Let us make three tents.” We, just like the three disciples, like
to linger longer at the mountain’s summit.
However,
this is not what Jesus wants them to be. He asks not to stay but to go down. Who
among us like to descend from glory? Surely, it is natural for us to maintain
our position or even ascend to a higher ground. Yet again, the transfiguration
was short-lived, Jesus went back to His human appearance and walked down. He
invites us all to see our all our achievements in humility. Our success in
life, work and ministry are indeed a blessing, but we must not cling
possessively to them.
The
glories and success can be very edifying, and we might be consumed by this
dazzling lights and we fail to see the most important in our lives. Our Gospel
reminds us what most important is to listen and follow Jesus. We are reminded
that all these achievements are good yet also fickle. They can come and go
anytime. Thus, we must not forget what is truly essential in our life, because
when everything is gone, only Jesus remains faithful to us.
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